Two Cells: Antibodies can stop specific viruses that cause arthritis and brain infections

A mosquito-borne virus that can cause brain infections and arthritis-may have encountered an opponent
.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Louis have discovered two antibodies that can protect animals from diseases caused by the A virus
.

These antibodies are effective against all the type A viruses tested, which means they may become the basis of treatment or a template for universal vaccines

The results of the study were published in the August 19 issue of Cell
.

"In the United States, the alpha virus we are most worried about is Chikungunya virus, which can cause debilitating arthritis, but we have also seen cases of encephalitis caused by Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus," senior author Michael S.
Dr.
Diamond said, "Alpha viruses used to be limited to tropical regions, but in recent years they have spread to new geographic areas
.

Most of them are still uncommon, but together they can cause millions of infections and cause considerable disease.

Type A virus includes more than 30 species, divided into two branches
.

Chikungunya virus, Mayaro virus, Oninin virus and Ross River virus can cause fever, rash and arthritis.

Diamond and his colleagues previously discovered a set of antibodies that can neutralize many of the branches of the alpha virus that cause arthritis
.

But these antibodies can't fight all the viruses that cause arthritis, and they can't fight the viruses that cause brain infections at all

In order to find antibodies against the entire Alpha virus group, Diamond and his colleagues-including co-first author Dr.
Arthur S.
Kim, Dr.
Natasha M.
Kafai screened a group of two people infected with Chikungunya virus Antibody
.

They conducted antibody tests on a group of alpha viruses, which represent the two viruses

Then, they assessed whether this antibody can prevent arthritis or brain infections in animals
.

They used mice to test each antibody against two alphaviruses that cause arthritis and three alphaviruses that cause brain infections

Further experiments showed that the working principle of antibodies is to prevent the developing virus particles from leaving one cell and infecting another
.

The antibody is attached to a viral protein called E1, which is only exposed during the exit process

James E.
Crowe, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, also reported in a related paper published in the journal Cell that antibodies against the E1 protein bind to a wide range of type A viruses, preventing them from leaving the cell and protecting Animals are protected from arthritis and brain infections
.

Crowe and Diamond are long-term partners, and both have contributed to each other's papers

These two studies started from different perspectives-Diamond research started with a virus that causes arthritis; Crowe started with a protein that causes brain infections, but came to basically the same conclusion: E1 protein may be a universal defense against nails.
The key to the type of virus
.

Diamond said: "If we can find a vaccine that effectively targets the E1 protein, it will be a cost-effective way to provide extensive protection for people in resource-limited areas where most A virus infections occur.
Place
.
" "Since the target is hidden most of the time, it is challenging to make such a vaccine
.
But there are some techniques that can be used to make the immune system focus on E1 and produce a good antibody response against it
.
This is manufacturing The next step for universal vaccines
.
"

 Original search:

Pan-protective anti-alphavirus human antibodies target a conserved E1 protein epitope

DOI 10.
1016 / j.
cell.
2021.
07.
006